Drifting
by WolfKomoki
Summary: Clark spends years drifting through space. "You must go back to Earth Kal-El. You cannot stay here my son." When Clark refuses to go back to Earth, Jor-el forces Clark onto a foreign planet in an attempt to save his life. Unfortunately the planet's atmosphere is toxic to Kryptonians and Clark's life hangs in the balance after his return to Earth.
1. Chapter 1

Smallville is owned by Warner Bros.

Clark continued to drift through space, watching the Earth pass him by as he continued to float. How long had he been here? Days, months, years? It didn't really matter to him though, it was peaceful here.

Clark would have thought that the complete silence would be unnerving, but it was peaceful. Clark had thought about going back to Earth at first, but nothing was calling him back. His father was dead, and Lana was dating Lex. As Clark continued to drift away from Earth, he slowly closed his eyes as he allowed himself to rest. Clark was at peace here, so he didn't try to get himself back to Earth. Instead he let himself float aimlessly in space without a care in the world.

" _You must go back to Earth Kal-El. You cannot stay here my son._ " Jor-El pleaded. Clark continued to ignore him as he continued to float away.

" _Kal-El please. You can't stay here son."_ Jor-El tried to get through to him. Clark slowly opened his eyes to see a message written for him in the stars.

"Clark, I know you're floating in space right now. Please, come back to your mother. She needs you." Lionel had written. Clark continued to float away until he felt something grab him, and that's when he was pulled onto a completely purple planet.

If it hadn't been for everything on this planet being purple, Clark wouldn't have thought twice about the atmosphere being exactly like Earth's. Clark stared at the inhabitants of this planet. They were dragon-like creatures, but they were bigger, hollow even. Their speech pattern was a series of clicks that seemed to echo against his ears as it bounced from plant to plant.

"Hello? I don't know where I am!" Clark screamed. The creature flew over to him, presenting him with a plant in its mouth, clicking with a smile.

"Thank you, but I don't know if this stuff is okay for me to eat." Clark smiled. Clark watched as the creature used its breath to cook the plant for Clark, and that's when Clark decided to take a bite of it.

" _You cannot stay here Kal-el. This isn't your home son."_ Jor-el reminded him.

"Have you forgotten that Krypton is gone Jor-el?" Clark laughed.

" _No I haven't forgotten."_ Jor-el tried to plead with him. Clark continued to eat the plants, feeling hungrier than he had ever felt since he was in space. Eventually he managed to satisfy his hunger as he got to know this planet that he was stranded on.

"Jor-el, did you take me here?" Clark demanded.

" _I had to keep you safe my son."_ Jor-el informed.

"But why? Why couldn't you just let me drift out there for eternity!" Clark sobbed.

" _You might not love me, but I still love you my son, and I would never let you die._ " Jor-el informed.

"Yeah? Well you have a fucked-up way of showing it." Clark snapped.

" _I never wanted this for you Kal-el. I sent you to Earth so that you could have a chance at a new life, without me._ " Jor-el sighed.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?" Clark asked with confusion.

" _It's no secret that I was not a benevolent ruler, but if there's anything that I can do, it's save you Kal-el."_ Jor-el spoke.

"If you care about me so much, then _why_? Why have you hurt so many people?" Clark demanded.

" _It is how I have always ruled Kal-el. I am not proud of my decisions, but you continued to defy me."_ Jor-el reminded him.

Clark soon started gasping for air after having eaten the plants that had been offered to him. He continued to clutch at his throat until he collapsed, the poison from the plant setting in. Eventually Clark lay motionless as his heart stopped beating.

" _Kal-el."_ Jor-el's voice called. Slowly Clark opened his eyes to find himself staring up at Jor-el.

"Jor-el? What's going on? Where am I?" Clark asked with confusion.

"You have been poisoned Kal-el." Jor-el informed.

"Poisoned? How?" Clark demanded.

"By that plant that you ate. Those plants are poisonous to Kryptonians." Jor-el warned.

"Figures." Clark sighed. Jor-el grabbed one of the plants as he ate it himself, breathing in the poison from Clark's lips as Jor-el tried to save him.

"No, no! What are you doing? You'll _die_!" Clark shrieked. Clark screamed as Jor-el fell over, his body completely still. Soon enough, Clark started gasping for air as the poison removed itself from his body.

"Jor-el? _Jor-el!"_ Clark screamed. After getting up, Clark was shocked to find his corpse. The creatures all started licking him once they realized that Clark was okay, and that's when Clark picked up Jor-el's corpse, flying into space as he flew back down to Earth.

Clark was surprised to find tears pouring from his face.

He had hardly known his biological father, but he had sacrificed himself to save him from the poison.

"Don't worry, I'll bury you. It's the least I can do." Clark sighed as he flew to the fortress. Once he was there he buried Jor-el under the crystals, covering him in the rest of the crystals as he sat there, waiting.

" _You have buried me Kal-el. I am surprised._ " Jor-el smiled.

"Jor-el? How—what? I don't understand." Clark asked with confusion.

" _I am trapped here Kal-el. My body can only be inhabited in times that you are in danger_." Jor-el explained.

"Alright, who am I going to lose this time?" Clark sighed.

" _Maybe it's time for you to lose me._ " Jor-el suggested.

"What? Hey wait a minute! What are you talking about? Why do you want to die so badly?" Clark shrieked.

" _I am trapped between the veil of life and death. I am suffering Kal-el."_ Jor-el answered.

"What can I do?" Clark asked.

" _I need you to destroy the fortress with my body in it."_ Jor-el pleaded.

"Wait what's going to happen to you?" Clark screamed.

" _I will be at peace Kal-el."_ Jor-el pleaded.

"Alright, I'll do it." Clark told him as he raced outside the fortress, using his heatvision to burn the place to the ground.

" _Thank you Kal-el, and goodbye._ " Jor-el smiled as he faded away.

Clark smiled when he watched Jor-el finally be at peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Clark stared at the burning remains of the fortress for a while, his head still pounding from what he had done. Sure, he was angry at Jor-el at first, but was burning down the fortress really the best course of action? Still, he had to get away, so he raced away from the scene, seeing the remains of the fortress for the last time as he raced away.

As Clark ran, he could feel his breath hitching in his throat, and that's when he raced to Queen Industries, barging down to Oliver's layer.

"Jesus Clark, don't you know how to knock?" Oliver shrieked as he picked everything up that had been knocked over.

"Help…" Clark gasped, stumbling over the desk.

"Clark? What happened?" Oliver shrieked, grabbing Clark's arm before he fell against the desk.

"Space…toxic environment…can't breathe." Clark spoke in between gasps.

"Okay, don't say anymore." Oliver instructed as he helped him to a bed, covering his mouth with an oxygen mask. After that, he hooked him up to the rest of the equipment, grabbing Clark's phone as he called J'onn.

"Hey, uh, Clark needs your help. Can you get over here?" Oliver asked as he gave him the address. After about an hour J'onn walked in to see Oliver.

"Oh, hey you're here. Maybe you can understand this." Oliver smiled as he pointed to the monitors. J'onn looked at the monitors for a while as he thought of how to help him.

"You don't have an air purifier, do you?" J'onn asked.

"No, but I can get one." Oliver told him as he made a call. Within an hour, the place was hooked up with the air purifier and that's when J'onn turned it on. Oliver watched as the toxic substance swimming around in Clark's lungs slowly started to dissipate as the machine got to work.

"Uh, what is that?" Oliver gasped when purple veins started to crawl up Clark's neck.

"I don't know, I've never seen that before." J'onn answered. Oliver slowly walked over to Clark, and that's when he noticed the sweat covering his forehead.

"My God, he's burning up!" Oliver shrieked, running to get a bucket and some ice from the kitchen. After filling the bucket with water, Oliver put the ice in the bucket as he grabbed some bags and a cloth to cover the ice in the bags. Now that he had all that, he ran back to Clark's side as he covered him in ice, hoping to bring his temperature down before it killed him.

"Don't worry Clark, I'm here." Oliver whispered, running his fingers through Clark's hair. Clark slowly opened his eyes to see Oliver's face looking up at him.

"Clark, it's okay, just try to rest." Oliver instructed. Clark slowly closed his eyes as he went back to sleep. Oliver sighed with relief when Clark's lungs had less of the toxic substance in them.

"Hey J'onn can you take watch for a while? I'm beat." Oliver asked.

"Sure. Goodnight Oliver." J'onn told him as Oliver went to his room to sleep. It was about six the next morning when Oliver went to check on Clark.

"Hey. His lungs are clear, but he's still got a hell of a fever. I've been trying to get it down." J'onn greeted.

"It's weird seeing him like this. I don't think he's ever been this ill before." Oliver sighed.

"I think we should call Martha." J'onn told him.

"Alright." Oliver muttered as he used Clark's phone to call Martha.

"Hey Martha? Clark's sick and I think he'd appreciate having you here. Can you meet us?" Oliver asked.

"What? I'm on my way!" Martha shrieked as she hung up the phone, driving to the place that Oliver texted her from Clark's phone. After about forty minutes she arrived, and that's when she ran inside, going over to Clark's side.

"Clark! What happened?" Martha shrieked.

"We think that when he was in space, he ended up on a planet with a toxic environment." J'onn explained.

"Well, how do we help him!" Martha shrieked.

"We've cleared his lungs, but he keeps running a fever." J'onn explained.

"Now that his lungs are clear, let's try an ice bath." Martha suggested. Oliver nodded as he unhooked Clark from the machines.

"I'll take care of it. You boys don't need to be here for this." Martha told them as she carried Clark to the bathroom after grabbing the bucket of ice. Once he was there she filled the tub with cold water, and that's when she put the ice in the water.

"Okay honey, you're not gonna like this, but we need to get your temperature down, okay?" Martha spoke to empty air. Clark was still unconscious as she gently lowered him into the tub.

Once he was in the tub Martha grabbed a thermometer as she checked his temperature.

Martha swore under her breath when the thermometer reads one hundred five degrees.

"Oh God! Clark!" She shrieked, trying not to panic as she sat there, waiting for his temperature to go down. After about an hour she checked his temperature again. It was one hundred two degrees now, but it was still much too warm. After replacing the ice in the water, Martha added more ice in hopes of making the cooling process faster.

"It's times like this I miss your father. If he were here he'd know just what to do to help you, but I…I just don't." Martha sobbed. After another hour she checked his temperature again. It was at ninety-eight degrees now, which wasn't life threatening at least. Slowly she got Clark out of the tub, unplugging it as she drained the water. After helping Clark into some dry clothes, she carried him back to the hospital bed as Oliver reattached him to the equipment. Once he was attached, Oliver covered him in a cool cloth, hoping to get his temperature down.

It was about eight the next morning when Clark's temperature finally returned to normal, and that's when Clark slowly opened his eyes.

"Why the hell are you all staring at me?" Clark asked with confusion, which caused them all to start laughing.

"What?" Clark asked with confusion.

"You scared the hell out of us man!" Oliver sighed with relief.

"Sorry about that." Clark chuckled.


End file.
